Long Neck wines has adopted a charming, real giraffe named Leila. A contemporary zoo in the busy port of East London, on South Africa’s east coast, is her home.Leila has been hand-raised by zoo staff. An infant of a few days old on arrival, she stood a mere1.6m (6ft. 3in.) tall. Today she is nearly seven years old and stands almost 4.5m (14ft. 9in.) in height.Her enclosure enables her to interact directly with the public and both Leila and her visitors love the experience of direct contact.

Leila is very gentle, affectionate and approachable and particularly enjoys being scratched behind her ears.

You may recall that Leila has a boyfriend, named Sabre. Leila has recently spent some quality time with him, we hope that in due course we will see little Long Necks.

DID YOU KNOW?

Giraffe bulls grow to a height of about 5m, cows to about 4.4m

Ungainly as they may appear, giraffes can reach a top speed of about 48 km/h.

The giraffe has the same number of vertebrae in its long neck as you do in yours, seven.

You can identify the sex of a giraffe from the horns on its head. The bull’s horns are longer, thicker and bald at the top. Cow’s horns have a tuft of hair at the tips.

Giraffe mothers defend their young fearlessly and are known to beat off an attacking lion.